Originally published in 1992. This provocative book calls for a critical analysis of the philosophical assumptions underpinning sociolinguistics. Going back to the roots of the study of language in society, it challenges the leading figures in the field and emphasises the sociological rather than the linguistic side of the subject.

Foreword Joshua Fishman Preface. Introduction 1. Historical Antecedents 2. Parsonian Structural Functionalism 3. Speech Variation 4. Language Contact 5. Language Planning 6. Conversation Analysis 7. The Ethnography of Communication 8. Ethnolinguistic Vitality 9. Conclusion